Michael Harding was found dead inside an empty Burkesville house after prosecutors said he was lured there by Thomas O’Donnell.
BURKESVILLE, Ky. — Michael Harding left for what looked like another HVAC job, but prosecutors said the service call was false and led him to the empty Kentucky house where Thomas O’Donnell shot him to death.
O’Donnell, 64, of Napa, California, was sentenced to life in prison May 4 after a Cumberland County jury convicted him of murder. The case focused on the final movements of Harding, a 53-year-old Navy and Army veteran who had moved to Tennessee after separating from his wife, California Highway Patrol Capt. Julie Harding. Prosecutors said O’Donnell used Harding’s trade against him, making an ordinary repair request the tool that brought him to the killing site.
Harding was living in Celina, Tennessee, and running an HVAC business when he was contacted about work at a house on Glasgow Road in Burkesville. The house was vacant and listed for sale. Prosecutors said O’Donnell obtained access to the property and used a prepaid phone to make the request appear real. At 4:10 p.m. on Sept. 19, 2022, Harding texted the prepaid phone that he was “35 minutes out,” FBI Special Agent Elizabeth Wheeler testified. The person using the phone replied, “No worries.” Harding asked if that was good, and the answer was yes. His message, “See ya soon,” was met with “Perfect.”
Those messages became some of the clearest words jurors heard from Harding’s last day. They did not show panic or suspicion. They showed a worker confirming arrival time with a customer. Prosecutors said that was the point of the plan. Harding’s job required him to enter homes, including houses where he might not know the owner. By posing as someone needing HVAC help, the killer could move him to a chosen place. Authorities said Harding was shot multiple times once he reached the house. His body was not found until Sept. 26, when a real estate agent arrived to show the property to potential renters.
The days between Harding’s disappearance and the discovery of his body left friends and family searching for answers. A black pickup truck tied to him had been seen in the Bowling Green area. Early public comments did not lay out a murder plot, and investigators had not yet announced the evidence that would later become central at trial. Once Harding was found in the Burkesville house, the question changed. Detectives no longer had only a missing man. They had a veteran, a service call, an empty house and signs that the appointment had been arranged by someone using a prepaid phone.
Prosecutors said O’Donnell was not acting alone. They described him as the lover of Julie Harding, Michael Harding’s estranged wife. Julie Harding had worked for the California Highway Patrol since 1999 and later became a commander. She and Michael Harding had planned to retire in Tennessee, but their marriage ended before that plan became the life they expected. After filing for divorce in May 2022, she stayed in California while Michael Harding lived in Tennessee. Prosecutors said the divorce became the motive for a conspiracy in which O’Donnell would travel, make contact and kill Michael Harding at a place far from the couple’s former California life.
Money records became part of that story. Court filings said Julie Harding withdrew $102,000, $73,000 and $47,700 from accounts she shared with Michael Harding after filing for divorce. Prosecutors said the total, more than $220,000, was used to pay O’Donnell. They also said Julie Harding and O’Donnell exchanged 194 calls in the three months before the killing. Defense attorneys challenged the claim that the money proved murder for hire. They said there was no direct evidence that Julie Harding paid O’Donnell to kill her husband. The defense also argued that the calls showed contact but not the content of a plan to kill.
Investigators built the case through location data, travel records and the prepaid phone. They said O’Donnell’s personal phone and the prepaid device moved through the same areas and made trips before the killing to Celina, where Harding lived. A laptop tied to O’Donnell searched the Glasgow Road address twice while connected to Wi-Fi at a hotel about an hour away, investigators said. On the day Harding was killed, Julie Harding’s phone was in Sacramento, while O’Donnell’s phone and the prepaid phone were near the crime scene, according to testimony. The defense warned jurors that location data can be imprecise and cannot prove who had a device in hand.
O’Donnell was arrested Dec. 8, 2022, at Sacramento International Airport as he prepared to board a flight to Tennessee. Julie Harding was arrested the same day in Tennessee, but not on a murder charge. She faced stalking and burglary allegations tied to Michael Harding’s girlfriend. Investigators said home security video from October showed Julie Harding taking Harding’s dog, Charlie, from a Murfreesboro home. Two days after her arrest, Julie Harding was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at the Celina home. Her death meant the alleged planner of the plot would not be tried.
At O’Donnell’s trial, prosecutors returned again and again to the service call. They said a man from California had no innocent reason to be tied to the prepaid phone, the Kentucky property and the woman accused of arranging the killing. Prosecutor Jesse Stockton told jurors that “all this evidence points to this amateur hitman from California.” Defense attorneys said the state’s case lacked direct proof and depended on filling gaps with assumptions. The jury found the prosecution’s version more persuasive and convicted O’Donnell of murder May 1.
For Harding’s relatives, the verdict came after years of grief and court proceedings. His daughter, Heather Cavalieri, said the family felt happy and shocked after jurors returned the guilty verdict. The case also brought attention to Harding’s military service and the ordinary nature of the work call that became his last known appointment. He was not found in a fight or at a place tied to a feud. He was found in an empty house where, prosecutors said, he went because he believed someone needed repairs.
The next stage is expected to involve any post-trial motions or appeal filings, while the record of the case continues to center on Harding’s final service call. O’Donnell is serving a life sentence in Kentucky.
Author note: Last updated May 25, 2026.